


I’m on Fire

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: come alive [36]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Meet-Cute, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-04-28 18:58:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14455689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: A bar fight, a couple of flaming shot glasses, and she honestly should have expected to find Klaus in the middle of the chaos.





	1. Chapter 1

The witches were unexpected.

Caroline had a soft spot for Barcelona. Spain was the first country she’d tried to disappear into after she’d left Mystic Falls. Two years of rudimentary Spanish had given her something to build on, and she’d spent five years in Spain before moving on to Portugal.

It’d been nearly two decades since she’d last spebt any time there, but she still loved the city. She’d madd a point to swing by every so often to remember that nervous terror of being truly alone, the joys of finding herself. Eventually she’d caved and bought a house.

Living in Spain or not, Caroline had always kept a finger on the rumor mill. vampire politics were a bitch, and she’d learned to avoid them. There hadn't been a whisper of a vampire-witch conflict during this trip.

So when the tables between her and the door had exploded in a sign of witch-y rage, Caroline had dived behind the bar without a second thought. There was screaming, Spanish curses and the rich scent of blood as the conflict erupted; all of which could very easily lead to a bad night for her.

Time to make an exit.

Eyes darting around behind the bar, she reached for a gin and swiped a few of the larger shot glasses. There was an unexpected lull, but Caroline didn't dare look up as she poured. A male voice that she couldn't quite make out was cutting through the noise and she wished him luck. She had no idea what race was attempting to act as a mediator, but if the last hundred years had taught her anything, it was that witches didn't toss around this much power when they were in a reasonable mood.

Caroline pulled the lighter she'd made a habit to keep on hand out of her pocket, and winced as a body was thrown behind her and the sounds of magic filled the air. Mediation had failed, then. Her best bet was to get the hell out of there. To do that, she'd need to break the line of sight on the witches.

Fire generally worked wonders.

The trick with this was keeping the fire from eating through the high proof booze before it landed. The glass would do a lot of damage, kill anyone she hit directly if she was lucky, but fire caused panic. She needed those seconds to bail. Her eyes landed on a box of sugar cubes and Caroline grinned.

A quick dunk into the gin, a few toothpicks and she had a wick. Setting the sugar cubes on fire took few seconds, and the toothpicks kept the flame away from the booze until she was ready. Lining up her shots, she peaked over the edge of the bar.

The fight had turned ugly, but there was some serious muscle working through the crowd. She couldn't quite make out who it was other than a vampire, and she blocked out the heavy scent of blood as heads and hearts were removed. Taking a deep breath, thankful the bar wasn't huge, she braced herself. She needed to throw the glasses with enough velocity and at the correct angle to keep the alcohol in the shot glass.

Narrowing in on the first witch, she swiped the burning cube into the glass as she threw the fireball; screams erupted as she hit her target, enough of the gin left to burn on contact. Caroline quickly tossed the others before anyone could realize where they were coming from. There was an unfortunate blur, just as the last glass left her fingers.

The flaming shot slammed into the back of the leather jacket of the muscle that was ripping through the crowd, instead of the witch she'd been aiming for. Her eyes barely registered riotous curls before he twisted around, lips peeled back to showcase double fangs and hybrid eyes as he shrugged off the burning jacket and her stomach flipped into her throat.

Klaus.

For a moment, their eyes remained locked, something wild blooming in his gaze before his eyes narrowed and he twisted up tear off the head off the witch that was casting near him. Caroline dropped, heart pounding in her chest as she kept low and moved towards the door. It didn't take much to slip through the fighting bodies and hit the outdoors. She took three steps towards her home and paused, turning back to the screams inside. Catching her lip between her teeth, instead she leaned against a wall of a nearby shop, and waited.

It didn't take long.

Klaus stepped outside with blood flecked on his face and sans jacket, his eyes scanning the area quickly before landing on her. Her stomach tumbled with butterflies she hadn't felt in a century. It was odd, seeing him like this in one of her favorite cities. "Hey.”

Klaus' smile was slow as he paced towards her, gaze nearly a touch against her skin as he looked her over. “Clever trick with the alcohol, sweetheart. A pity though, the jacket was a favorite.”

One corner of her mouth curved up without her permission. “I'm sure most of those idiots liked their heads.”

His eyes gleamed with amusement. “I have to say Caroline, it's a bit of surprise to see you.”

“Barcelona is a favorite of mine,” she told him. Her breath caught a little at the way interest turned his gaze potent. “Although I admit, a bar fight was the last place I thought to see you again.”

“Thought of me, then?” His voice lowered with his words and while he moved no closer to her than he already was, the air shifted between them. Heated. “And I’d hardly call that a proper fight. More of a minor inconvenience.”

Caroline snorted out a laugh at the distaste in his words, that shift of his weight. A hundred years, and he still made her skin spark. Catching the corner of her lip, she tilted her head and considered him. She could write this off as a quirk of fate, slip back into the careful seclusion of the past few decades. Bonnie was gone, Elena was gone and she cared not if the Salvatores still lived.

But Klaus, he’d looked for her, after the fight.

“Did you have plans for tonight?” Her words were a bit abrupt, but she refused to back down from those eyes.

Klaus arched a brow, gaze gliding over the lines of her face. “Nothing important.”

Spinning on her heel, she headed for a different street. “Interested in letting me buy you a drink as an apology for that jacket?”

He was in step with her a breath later, hands in his pockets. “Going to show me your favorite places?”

Her lips curved and she glanced at him from beneath her lashes. His tone was almost teasing, but there was a hunger behind his eyes he wasn't trying to hide. The same hint of tease, of need, colored her own voice when she spoke.

"Well, you did show up at my door and all.”

 


	2. All the Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New York City tasted like old memories and freedom.

Caroline picked up the menu for the third time, her foot tapping impatiently beneath the cute little table at the equally adorable cafe. It’d been nearly three decades since she had step foot in the States, and she hadn’t really planned on staying long. She’d always loved New York, those thirty-six hours she’d rushed around exploring before her one way ticket to Spain had taken off were some of her best.

It had been her first taste of freedom.

She’d walked until her feet hurt, had eaten until even her metabolism had groaned, and later, she’d been able to watch the city lights disappear without a regret. Being back in the bustle of New York had unexpectedly reminded her of the melancholy that had sent looking for freedom she had never found in Mystic Falls. Dissatisfied, she’d been mulling over plane tickets, wondering if it was time to start spending some time in South-East Asia when Klaus has texted her.

Things had changed between them in Barcelona. She’d know it would. She’d invited him in, had let him glimpse a piece of herself after a century. She’d known he’d want more, had mostly  hoped for it.

Klaus let her buy that first drink as promised, and had followed up with a bottle of champagne after, his dimples creasing his cheeks. She’d rolled her eyes and accepted the glass, refusing to give into the urge to return his smile. He’d been ridiculous and cheesy, and _maybe_ , still hers if she wanted him.

But Barcelona had been five years ago and the line of communication had been well and truly opened. He’d dropped her off at her home there was a kiss on her cheek and her number in his phone. They’d met up a few times over the years since, had texted semi-frequently. Sue her, Klaus always had excellent restaurant suggestions.

But Caroline hadn’t managed to figure out what she wanted, though she thought of it often. Klaus seemed willing to take his cues from her so they remained caught somewhere between friends and the banked coals of an afternoon spent _very_ naked in a forest.

Although she was pretty sure she wanted more.

Though the fact that he’d known she was in New York, regardless of how short she intended to stay, hadn’t been a surprise as much as an annoyance. But the prospect of seeing him when she’d found herself feeling so out of sorts had been a surprising relief. One that she would look at later, when there were thousands of miles between them and not when he’d be so shortly in touching distance, should she wish.

But he was also _three minutes late_.

Gaze narrowed, Caroline dropped the menu and flipped her phone over to glare balefully at the blank screen. No text, no missed call. Before she could decide just how annoyed she wanted to be, the faintest hint of blood caught her attention. It was quickly followed by a far subtler scent she’d long since memorized.

Head snapping up, she found Klaus weaving through the tables, the set of his jaw annoyed even as his gaze took her in. His curls were rumpled, fashionably or from a quick scuffle it was hard to say, and his lips curved as he took in her expression. “Apologies for my tardiness, Caroline. I was unavoidably detained.”

She waited until he’d settled, managed to contain herself as the waitress appeared to fill his water glass. Arms crossing, she eyed him as he perused the menu she’d dropped. His hands were clean, the scruff of his beard clean. Still there was no lying to a vampires nose. “Who did you kill?”

Klaus laughed softly under his breath. “You know, I didn’t catch their names?”

Caroline rolled her eyes then, leaning back in her seat. “Seriously?”

He shrugged and turned his attention to her, amusement and a flicker of something hotter, darker behind his eyes. “It happens occasionally. A vampire or witch has grown tired of living and they attempt to kill me, which we know is an impossibility. No censure from you, love?”

She rolled her eyes at his mildly worded question. “If some idiot wants to suicide by Klaus, I’m not about to get bent out of shape over it. I’m pretty sure I said something similar, when you started that bar fight, if you recall.”

His dimples creased in his cheeks even as his brows shot up. “I remember that night with perfect clarity, Caroline. And as such, I believe it is a far fairer statement to say _we_ started the fight, love.”

Caroline felt the waitress approach but didn’t bother looking away from his glittering gaze as she gave her order. When they were alone, she arched a brow. “When did you of all people start believing in fair? And you absolutely ripped out that one vampires heart _way_ before I got involved.”

A noise of amusement rumbled in his throat. “You shoved your champagne glass through his friend’s throat before a single body hit the floor.”

Caroline refused to be charmed by that note of affection in his throat or acknowledge his point. “So you say. _More_ importantly, I’m pretty sure what started the argument that unfortunately escalated was insistence on no more _creepy spies_ being anywhere around me. I’ve been in New York less than six hours, Klaus.”

His lashes fluttered, hiding the heat of his eyes for a heartbeat. “No spies, Caroline. Just an occasional favor if someone I trust sees you.”

“Trust?” She repeated incredulously. “You _do_ that now?”

His shoulder rose with a hint of a shrug. “Careful phrasing when compelling someone can make them extremely trustworthy, don’t you think?”

“Klaus!” This time his shoulders shook with his laughter, dimples digging deep as she crossed her arms and tried to glare.

“There is perhaps a member or two of my line who I will one day tolerate knowing of your existence.” The innate threat in those words were weirdly comforting and completely terrifying. Klaus killed, but knowing that he’d so far worse to keep her safe? “However, in this instance, Rebekah happened to glimpse you at the airport.”

“I’m sure she told you out of the _goodness_ of her heart,” Caroline muttered as she picked up her water glass, trying to hide how unnerved she felt at the lack of panic that came with the her realization. Unlike her younger self, she didn’t want to run.

Klaus lifted a shoulder. “She wanted the plane, thought you being here would entice me into staying long enough for her to escape my annoyance at her taking the plane for a quick trip to Milan.”

She blinked. “Did it work?”

“Of course not,” he said with a small smile. “Letting Rebekah feel like she’s won anything is always a mistake. She likely take it to Milan, and I’ll be deleting her irate voice mails from my phone over the next few days when it immediately turns around without her.”

Deciding to ignore the sibling warfare that had been perfected over centuries, Caroline topped her head to the side. “Where you planning on going somewhere?”

“That depends on you,” Klaus said as he reached for the serving spoon. “New York City isn’t my home currently, and it certainly won’t have the charm of Barcelona, but perhaps you’ll allow me to show you around anyway.”

She considered his offer as she ate, turning her options over carefully. Letting him have this would probably open the door between them wider, but she thought a few days with Klaus in New York City would be _very_ different than the thirty-six she’d spent rushing through the city so many years ago.

“I didn’t have any set plans,” she said slowly, toes curling as Klaus’ gaze warmed with pleasure. “I suppose I can spare a few days, _assuming_ you’re not a boring tour guide.”

The curve of his smile was a challenge, his dimples wicked. “Oh, I think we’ll manage.”

Caroline wouldn’t tell him, not yet anyway, but not only did she think they’d manage, she was looking forward to it.   



End file.
